The University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Journalism and Mass Communications awards annual scholarships and fellowships totaling $5,000 to support graduate students who are in the process of completing their thesis or professional project.
Applications for the fall 2012 semester are due March 16, 2012, along with a letter of application, an itemized budget, graduate adviser recommendation, resume and proposal.
Scholarship recipients are selected upon records of good scholarship and academic and professional promise. The Hitchcock Fellowship is awarded to graduate students based on their thesis or professional proposal.
Recent scholarship recipients include the following:
FALL 2011
Abby Bartholomew’s professional project looks at the relationship between behavior and the effect on advertising messages. She will travel to Duke University to conduct her research at the John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History. Bartholomew earned a degree in advertising from UNL in 2009. She has worked at the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services in graphic communications; the minnow PROJECT as an account manager and most recently at Kenexa as a project manager.
Charles Bisbee’s thesis expands the discussion of how journalists might apply the principles of rhetoric developed by Aristotle, Cicero and other ancient writers as a watchdog aid in covering President George W. Bush’s rhetorical language prior to the invasion of Iraq.
Trevor Hall’s professional project researches and develops a campaign to promote American tourism for the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority. Hall, of Neligh, Neb., graduated from UNL in 2005 with a degree in broadcasting. Hall has interned at HuskerVision, 90.3 KRNU and Nebraska Educational Television. He worked as an associate producer at Towers Productions in Chicago, Ill., Orion Multimedia and High Noon Entertainment in Denver, Colo. His most recent position is with Hoggard Films in Boulder, Colo.
Courtney Hunt-Munther’s thesis analyzes media coverage given of the 2008 Dole-Hagan U.S. Senate race in North Carolina with the reporter’s gender. Hunt-Munther, of Arcata, Calif., earned a degree in 2004 from Smith College in Northampton, Mass. Since graduation, she has worked as a reporter for The Eureka in Redding, Calif., and has most recently been a public relations and marketing specialist at St. Joseph Health System in the Orange County, Calif., area.
Justin Swanson’s professional project focuses on judicial appointments and elections.
Swanson earned degrees in English and communications in 2007 from Trinity International University in Davie, Fla. Since graduation, Swanson has interned at Common Cause-Nebraska, worked as a law clerk at Nebraska Appleseed, and is currently a legal clerk at Legal Aid of Nebraska. He is pursuing a law degree in addition to his masters in journalism.
SPRING/SUMMER 2011
Farooq Baloch’s professional project relates the experiences of a Pakistani family as they become accustomed to American society in Lincoln, Neb. Baloch, of Karachi, Pakistan is a Fulbright scholar. Prior to coming to Nebraska in 2009, Baloch spent four years as a field reporter for The News, an English daily in Pakistan. While there, he covered stories dealing with crime, government corruption, education and civic issues. He has held internships at the Economic Policy Department, State Bank of Pakistan and Himal South Asian, a monthly English magazine.
Soo Hui Lee’s qualitative thesis, titled “College Students’ Trust for Different Kinds of News Media,” looks at the correlation between trust and use of news media by college students. She received an honorable mention in recognition of her accomplishments from the UNL Review Committee for the Folsom Outstanding Masters Thesis Award. She will be presenting a paper based on her thesis in a refereed competition at the Broadcast Education Association’s national convention in Las Vegas, Nev., in April. The paper was awarded an honorable mention in the news division by the BEA.
Carson Stokebrand’s professional project is a documentary on immigration in Nebraska titled “The Truth About Rosa.” The broadcast journalist earned degrees in history and communications from Concordia University in Seward, Neb. Stokebrand’s internships include Concordia’s student newspaper, The Sower; KLKN Channel 8 in Lincoln; the Lincoln Saltdogs baseball team and the Late Show With David Letterman. He was the bureau chief of the ABC News on Campus bureau at UNL.
Additional Information:
Download application online and submit to graduate staff assistant Allison Hunt. The graduate policies and procedures committee will review the applications and determine the recipient(s).
Fellowship dollars have supported the education of graduate students at the UNL College of Journalism and Mass Communications since 1975. The Hitchcock Center for Graduate Study and Professional Journalism Development was founded in 1981 as a memorial to Martha Hitchcock and her husband, Gilbert. Hitchcock was the founder of the Omaha World-Herald and a U.S. senator. Martha Hitchcock became a director of the World Publishing Company when her husband died in 1934. The center fosters professional development among working journalists in Nebraska.